NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With the Millersville Police Department now the focus of a TBI investigation, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered new questions about the stories that conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor tells about himself.
Those new questions include the stories that Taylor tells about the jobs he has held in the past, stories about retaliation he claims to have faced and stories that raise more questions about whether Taylor should have a gun and a badge.
As the assistant police chief tells it, he has been on to a vast international conspiracy involving some of the country's most powerful politicians.
"We are getting closer and closer and closer to taking the deep state down," he declares in one podcast video.
It's a discovery that, he has claimed, has continually put a target on his back.
"Every time that I will go to an agency and start digging, they will always as soon as I start showing them everything, they shut me down."
Which is why the Millersville assistant police chief says he has had trouble keeping a job.
"You don't become a gypsy cop going from agency to agency. You just, you don't do it. It's bad. But it was to the point that that's what was forced on me."
But our NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Shawn Taylor has left a trail of questions throughout his career.
His Facebook page claims he once worked at the Williamson County Sheriff's Department.
The agency says it has no record of him.
On one job application, Taylor claimed he worked at the Hickman County Sheriff's Department as "deputy sheriff" and "chief jail administrator."
Hickman County officials say he was "only a correctional officer."
Taylor claims to have had a near-spotless disciplinary history.
"I mean, literally, I was wrote up one time in my entire 25-year career and given a two-day suspension for a pursuit that went from location to downtown Nashville because it got caught on Sky 5 traffic — and it ended up being some boys that had carjacked some people."
In fact, records show Taylor nearly got fired from the Columbia Police Department in 2009, following a complaint by a woman he was pursuing while he was married.
The woman claimed he "continued to call and send her text messages" over her objections, even calling her an "n....r lover" because she was friends with an African-American officer.
Investigators concluded he was guilty of harassment, stalking and criminal trespassing.
Taylor initially denied the allegations, then he worked out a deal for a 10-day suspension.
"It's no secret I was no angel when I was younger, and I'm not going to hide for it. My God, my Lord Jesus Christ, he knows what I've done," Taylor said in a recent interview with right-wing podcasters.
"I've admitted to anything that I have done that was wrong — and that's it because that's what a man does."
But it's not just a question of what Shawn Taylor has done in the past. We also uncovered questions about the bizarre stories he continues to tell about how he has become a victim of sinister forces who, in his mind, would do whatever it takes to stop his investigations.
Taylor has refused to answer any of our questions about his wild conspiracy theories, but one of his favorites stems from a few months when he worked for a tiny police department in Saltillo, Tennessee — just across the Tennessee River in West Tennessee.
"Literally had somebody show up to my house, warn me. Literally, a week later to the day, I was involved in a head-on collision."
There, Taylor claims he got so close to the truth about the conspiracies he had been investigating that, as he describes it, someone decided to take him out.
"I was literally warned several times and, within a week of being warned one time, I was hit head-on in a car crash and survived that."
But NewsChannel 5 Investigates dug up the accident report from that crash, and it showed that, instead of being a deliberate hit, the other driver "ran a stop sign" and "both vehicles swerved to avoid each other" before colliding.
And Taylor did not show any show any signs of incapacitating injuries, according to the report.
Yet, as he tells it, "It took me out for about a year, year and a half."
Again, we got his personnel file, and it shows that, several months after the crash, Taylor suddenly left a note with his badge and keys. The note said his "grandmother was ill." Taylor had given "no notice of his desire to quit and would not respond to calls or emails."
Then in fall 2022, Taylor's story took another strange turn as he claimed his life was in danger from the conspiracies he had figured out.
"Oh, brother, let me tell you," he told a QAnon podcaster. " I've had a white van sitting in my cul-de-sac two days in a row. That's no joke."
A few months later, before he was hired at Millersville, Taylor reported that someone had shot up his house.
According to a police report, Taylor suggested he may have been targeted because he "has proven that numerous high-ranking politicians and judges in the area are linked to money laundering and narcotics delivering and sale."
He showed pictures of the damage done to his house by what he described as 9 millimeter bullets.
"I mean, it was an attempt to scare. It was an attempt to say, 'Hey, you need to shut up.'"
Back with his QAnon podcast buddies, Taylor said the TBI was called in and he gave an agent permission to search his property for evidence.
But he claimed the agent went rogue and began searching without him present.
"I said you can pack your stuff and leave. So, basically, I put her in time out, right? She turns to me and said, 'Well, I want to see who you are going to get to solve this.'"
Which feeds back into his bizarre conspiracy theories.
"You can't trust the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. I have people that I've talked about on the shows that are former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. We know where it goes."
There were no witnesses, apparently no one caught it on home security cameras and whoever fired the shots did not leave behind any shell casings that might have been used to help investigators tie it to a specific gun.
The TBI says Shawn Taylor's complaint about the shooting at his house remains under investigation.
Will it turn out to be a real threat — or just another of his conspiracies?
Neither Taylor nor Millersville police responded to NewsChannel 5's questions.
——————————
Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
Here is how this investigation has unfolded:
May 20, 2024: Meet Millersville's conspiracy cop. He imagines sinister plots involving some of the country's most prominent political figures. Taylor recently landed in Millersville as assistant police chief, promising to root out the corruption he sees there. You can continue reading at this hyperlink.
May 22, 2024: The controversy over Millersville's conspiracy cop has now become the latest scandal rocking the tiny town just north of Nashville. Now, two city commissioners want a special meeting to figure out how Shawn Taylor landed his job. You can continue reading Part Two at this link.
May 24, 2024: An attorney for Millersville conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor has told Millersville's city commission, whom he also represents, that they should not question the assistant police chief's bizarre theories or psychological fitness. You can read more of this installment at this link.
May 28, 2024: New podcast video, uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, reveals how Shawn Taylor spread false and dangerous conspiracy theories about last year's Covenant School shooting that left three students and three staff members dead. You can click here to review that story.
May 28, 2024: Anna Caudill agreed to watch the video of Shawn Taylor knowing there might be only so much she could handle. Among the three children and three adults killed that day was her friend, Katherine Koonce. You can read more of Anna's story by tapping on this link.
June 3, 2024: First, he went after Millersville’s former mayor. Now, the town’s assistant police chief says his two critics on the city commission could be next. Shawn Taylor made those comments as he turned to a group of far-right podcasters to defend himself. Tap this link to read from those Taylor's accused.
June 4, 2024: Millersville officials are standing with their assistant police chief and his bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Nashville's Covenant School shooting. Read how this meeting played out at this link.
June 5, 2024: Bryant Kroll wears a lot of hats. He's the attorney representing the embattled City of Millersville. He also represents Mayor Tommy Long, who faces accusations of misconduct in an ouster suit. Plus, he's the attorney for Bryan Morris and Shawn Taylor. To understand the role he plays, you can read that here.
June 6, 2024: In Shawn Taylor's world — in the immortal words of Taylor Swift — "I'm the problem, it's me." I explain how we got here in this piece, which you can click on here.
June 18, 2024: Millersville's conspiracy cop now has his very own conspiracy-minded attorney. Now, our NewsChannel 5 investigation has discovered that Todd Callender's own theories are sometimes even more far-fetched than Taylor’s twisted view of the world. Click here to read more about Shawn Taylor’s attorney.
July 15, 2024: What happens when you give people with bizarre conspiracy theories a gun and a badge? Secret recordings from inside the troubled Millersville Police Department provide a sobering answer to that question. Read more on this investigation by tapping here.
July 22, 2024: In an explosive new development that could bring new trouble for the already-troubled Millersville Police Department, a key player in a child-predator sting says the lead detective on that operation lied under oath. You can read more about that by clicking here.
July 23, 2024: District Attorney General Robert Nash has asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the Millersville Police Department's handling of a child predator sting, including possible perjury by the lead detective. You can read more about that by tapping here.
July 29, 2024: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has expanded its probe of the embattled Millersville Police Department, now looking into allegations that officials may have used sensitive law enforcement data to investigate their political enemies. Read more about that by clicking here.
August 5, 2024: With the Millersville Police Department now the focus of a TBI investigation, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered new questions about the stories that conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor tells about himself. You can catch up on the investigation by tapping here.
August 12, 2024: In a perplexing pair of podcast interviews, the Millersville chief of police says the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has begun limiting his department's access to certain sensitive law enforcement data. Read more about this latest development here.
August 26, 2024: He has helped to fuel some of the wild conspiracy theories inside the troubled Millersville Police Department. He is a self-proclaimed pedophile hunter who believes America is controlled by what he calls "a satanic cult masquerading as Jews." Read more about Craig Sawyer by clicking here.
August 27, 2024: Craig Sawyer’s response to my investigation illustrates how conspiracy theorists frequently use wild accusations and blustery language to avoid giving real answers about their bizarre beliefs. Tap here to watch as we dissect his 90-minute diatribe.
September 4, 2024: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Millersville Police Department and Shawn Taylor’s home, executing a pair of search warrants as the criminal investigation into the troubled agency enters a dramatic new phase. Read more about this new twist in the Millersville investigation.
September 10, 2024: “No, a TBI agent didn't pee in Shawn Taylor's tub, agency says in response to Taylor's latest claim.” The headline says it all. Click here.
September 19, 2024: QAnon-aligned voices of the far right are threatening retaliation against a judge, a district attorney and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents for their roles in the recent Millersville raids. Details posted here.
October 7, 2024: A well-known Arizona election denier says his group — working through Millersville's conspiracy-minded assistant police chief — gained access to a highly confidential federal database that tracks Americans’ banking transactions and other financial data. Read the exclusive story here.
October 22, 2024: Two key GOP lawmakers – the chairman and a member of the state House committee that oversees the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation – recently warned the agency that it could face “unnecessary political fallout” if it does not end its criminal probe into the troubled Millersville Police Department. You can read the letter here.
October 24, 2024: A letter from two GOP lawmakers, which appeared to threaten the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for its probe of the Millersville Police Department, was the "wrong way to go," House Speaker Cameron Sexton said. But there is more to the speaker's reaction.
December 9, 2024: Shawn Taylor, the conspiracy-minded cop now at the center of a criminal investigation, has resigned from his position as assistant chief for the Millersville Police Department after less than a year on the job. Read more here.
Related videos, stories: